Electric Vehicles can take you places! Quite literally!​In the last one month I have received requests to connect with numerous EV enthusiasts and it only builds my assurance how promising the EV industry is in India. Where there is demand, there is sure to be supply! With current product portfolio available in India - across cars/vans and buses EV's are limited to city commute, however they have a potential to transform intercity commute as well.

Days 5, 6 and 7 of our Chalo Dilli tour was all about meeting people! We met an EV pioneer - Ms Rita Nahata, based out of Delhi, who drove a DC Reva, then a Revai, then an e2o and now the e2o Plus. We recorded some great stories and insights by Rita on her EV journey. We met the Managing Director of Terra Motors India, Mr Akihiro Ueda. Then we visited the factory of Chinese battery manufacturer of Lithium-Ion battery packs - Coslight, who have invested in India in Manesar. During the last day of our trip, we visit the headquarters of Okinawa scooters!

Day 3 and 4 of our Chalo Chilli tour was very hectic but very exciting!
We visited DLF Mall of India at Noida to check out the work CleanMotion is doing. We met some amazing people at URV enterprises who are going to launch disruptive EV products soon. We then met the EV community and members of EV industry in an event organised by us. We thank Mahindra Electric, Hero Electric and Okinawa for showcasing the e2o Plus, Hero Electric Optima Li-Ion and Okinawa Ridge e-Scooter.

Team PlugInIndia is in New Delhi, India's capital city. We plan to visit manufacturers of Electric Vehicles, meet EV community members and government officials. We also are organising an EV community/industry meetup this Saturday! This photo blog documents the events of Day 1 and 2!

The EV community in the cities of Pune and Mumbai did a series of test rides on an electric car - The Mahindra e2o between Mumbai and Pune over the last 2 weeks. A total of 5 electric cars drove around 1500 km with enthusiastic owners feeling green and great!
​Together we saved more than 125 liters of petrol for our country and we did not pollute the air in the beautiful western ghat mountains. All of us would want to do this again and again and again!

I just felt like taking a day off my crazy schedule. I decided to take my Mahindra e2o electric car for a spin to the mountains near Pune city. I decided to go to Lavasa, around 58 km from home. My plan was to just walk in the rain, do nothing, stare at the mist covered mountains, enjoy good food and also check out the Segway rides, launched recently. The concern at the back of my mind was this - I needed to cover 120 km (2 way) on an electric car that goes 100 km. And that too the route involved climbing steep hills - a big battery drainer. I did the same trip one year back, i barely made it back! (The magic of Regen!) This year, i wanted to plug in the car to ensure i was comfortable getting back.
But this time, what i found out was that, businesses and people, generally go out of their way to ensure EVs are plugged in and you return safely home. All you need to do is ask!

I just had the pleasure of visiting Europe for three weeks, recently. To be specific south France and Italy. The car scene is dominated by companies like Peugot, Renault, Citroen and Fiat. And like the rest of the world ICE based engines rule here, guzzling huge amounts of oil and spewing out tons of bad stuff in the atmosphere. Even the little scooters you see in Italian cities are petrol based.
I hardly see an EV here. Although I did spot few DC quick charging stations in roads and few electric cars plugged in. The overriding feeling i got is that electric vehicles still are driven mostly by enthusiasts, just like in India.